By Mark Taylor
As a dual US and Philippines citizen, Ryan Santos is in line to make Varsity Match history when Cambridge University face Oxford at Saracens’ StoneX Stadium on Saturday, March 8.
If the 25-year-old Jesus College student earns a spot in the Light Blues centres then he will become the first player from the Philippines to appear in the 153-year history of the fixture.
Having been born and raised in the Philippines, it was on moving to Hong Kong for four years that Santos was introduced to a more structured version of rugby.
“Obviously there is a very robust eco-system for youth rugby there,” he says. “They have the Hong Kong Sevens which was very inspiring, and that inspired me to play sevens professionally.
“We moved back to the Philippines and there is no youth rugby. My family and a few others at our school started a youth rugby club called the Mavericks, and that galvanised a whole generation of rugby players in the Philippines and carried us through to high school.”
Rugby union was already in the Santos genes. His father, Rick, had become a national champion in the sport while at UC Berkeley before coming over to the UK to study for his master’s.
He attended Oxford and was on the bench for the 1991 Varsity Match, but did not get onto the pitch, and then went on to play for Harlequins in the mid-90s.
So Santos had already been inspired to both play rugby and study in the UK.
The route to Cambridge came through Harvard first, where he did history and economics, but rugby union is not one of the sports that awards scholarships.
“At Harvard, on the team it was a lot of internationals that had played before and then a lot of high school athletes that were good academics and scholars that picked up the game there,” explains Santos.
“You had a lot of good athletes but the instincts weren’t quite there. That being said, I was able to get selected for a few USA age grade teams so I was a part of the USA under-18s, and then part of the under-23s, both sevens and XVs.
“That led me on the pathway for the men’s sevens, so post-graduation I joined the USA sevens programme where I was a full-time resident training and competing. I was staying in California and was fortunate to get a couple of caps and trial for the Olympics.”
Santos was unsuccessful in earning selection for the Paris Olympics, but playing at the Los Angeles Olympics is now one of his major ambitions, and getting back on the US programme.
Standing at 6ft 1in, he has played primarily in the centre or on the wing for the Light Blues but is able to bring that stature into play in sevens by occupying a place in the forwards.
It begs the question as to whether Santos has a preference between sevens and XVs?
“I think in the US for a long time it was known as sevens country, or as a sevens nation,” he says.
“If you think about American rugby players, you think about Perry Baker, Colin Iles, Danny Barrett, so those were the guys that I grew up analysing and watching.
“The thing I like about sevens a lot is it’s all skills, all abilities. I tend to be a bigger guy in sevens and I’m able to use more of my competencies.
“In XVs, I play in the backs. Then in sevens I’m a forward but I can play in the backs as well so there is more versatility there.”
Santos won his first cap for the US sevens in Toulouse, with his parents in attendance, and the second was at Twickenham, with his brothers also in the crowd. And they have had their own success, with Rand being selected for the USA Eagles XVs and Reed representing Philippines sevens.
“Growing up, the goal was always to play for the Philippines or Hong Kong, but then the opportunity arose to play in the World Series for the US,” says Santos.
“It was definitely a dream come true and the realisation of a lot of hard work, a lot of early mornings and late nights, still trying to manage academics as well.”
If he achieves his goal of an Olympic medal, Santos could one day find himself on the fabled boards of the Steele-Bodgers room at Grange Road, alongside British and Irish Lions and other internationally-capped players.
And that would mean a lot to a player that is relishing so many of the aspects of CURUFC.
“I’ve really been enjoying life at Cambridge, meeting some really cool people, and making some lifelong friends, both in and out of rugby,” he says.
“The rugby has been at a really high level. The biggest change from the States is that in the UK, rugby is one of the core sports while in the US it is on the periphery.
“It is cool to be a part of the team where there is a bit of a following and a lot of tradition and history.”
